I had every intention of getting Elin signed up for Tee-ball over the summer and a couple weeks after Grayson was born, I started looking and found out that most places by us that take 4 year olds only offer spring and fall Tee-ball. Unfortunately, we were too late for the spring session so I promised Elin that I would keep an eye out for the fall session and she seemed pretty excited about it. Fast forward to mid summer and I remembered and got her all signed up. I excitedly told her and she said, “Great, there will be princesses there, right?”

What???

Apparently every time I was saying “Tee-ball” she was thinking “tea” and a “ball” as in a fancy party or dance. She attended a princess tea over the summer and was getting all of that confused. Luckily, she was not too disappointed after I explained the difference.

Elin was very lucky to have her uncle Mike and cousins Max and Ethan, who came over before practices even started to teach her some of the basic fundamentals of hitting, throwing and catching.

She has had three games so far and a couple that will have to be rescheduled due to rain outs. She can hit pretty well off a tee but not from being pitched to. She loves to race after the ball and tries really hard to catch it. She and most of the team just all dive after the ball and jump on each other like they are playing tackle football. Surprisingly, there have been no injuries from that or crying.

It’s very hard for her to pay attention and not be picking at the grass, talking to her friend Lydia, or just daydreaming. I have to remind myself that she is still on the younger end of the age division and I’m sure she will pay attention better in the future. Overall, I think she is enjoying it and she looks awfully cute playing.

Another month has gone by in the blink of an eye and Grayson is 5 months old! He remains such a sweet and happy baby! He is always giving such sweet and adorable smiles to everyone he encounters. He is laughing more and more each day and will laugh a lot if you raise him in the air and then bring him back down quickly.

THE STATS:

Grayson is sleeping beautifully through the night and is taking good naps throughout the day.

He is still taking 5-6 ounces 5 times daily. This month we plan to start baby oatmeal.

Last month he had just started taking a pacifier and enjoyed it at first but he is using it less and less each week. He much prefers his thumb now.

Grayson really enjoys bearing weight on his feet while supported. This month he has started playing in his ExerSaucer and Jumperoo. He is not jumping yet in the Jumperoo, but likes the toys and standing on his feet with support.

He loves to hold his hands and cross his feet. He has already been grabbing and holding on to his feet as well.

He absolutely loves being outside and going for a walk. We try to take him on walks as often as we can.

He looks more and more like Elin each day and I think he looks a lot like I did as a baby as well. He is such a little bundle of love and sweetness that you can’t help but just smile at him when he looks up at you with his sweet smile. He will almost always smile a big smile back at you if you smile at him.

I was working on updating Grayson’s baby book and organizing his memory box this weekend and remembered that I had never shared his letter from the White House.

When I was planning my wedding and perusing wedding planning websites, I found out that you could send in wedding announcements (as well as birth announcements) to the White House and the president and first lady would send you a greeting back. I didn’t really care to do it for our wedding but thought it was cool keepsake for a baby. I completely forgot about it until Elin was well past newborn stage but did manage to remember in time for her and for Grayson I was on top of it and mailed in his birth announcement along with all the announcements for family and friends.

There is really not a point to do this other than it’s a unique keepsake to store in the baby box or in a memory box for your baby.

Elin has been anxious to visit the Doc McStuffins exhibit at the Indianapolis Children’s Museum and luckily for us we got our chance to check it out during a family outing with my husband’s employer. It was so nice to get access to the museum when it was closed to the public.

The event started at 6pm on a Friday evening and went until 11:30pm. We obviously did not stay that late and got there when it started as to not be out too late and we only took Elin since it would have been to late of an evening for Grayson.

When we got in the doors, most everyone seemed to be heading to the dining area first so we had the plan to go to the Doc McStuffins exhibit first since it was new and sure to be the most popular. We were thrilled to have the place to ourselves for a long time before others trickled up there.

The set up was so cute and such a neat way to teach kids about healthcare and help make hospitals a little less scary.

They had several different areas including a veterinary area, a baby nursery, exam rooms, and surgical suites.

They had little areas set up with all the instruments and told about each one.

Elin loves this little X-ray machine. It would scan each stuffed animal and tell you what was wrong and how to fix it.

Since Elin loves animals, this was probably one of her favorite areas but she also loves the baby nursery. We spent quite a bit of time in there.

Totally saving this picture when she becomes a pediatrician someday.

Look at her checking the the little patient chart.

She loved feeding and rocking the babies. She made sure each one was tucked into bed.

The surgical suite area was interesting, but she was not as into it as the other areas. It seemed a little geared for older kids. I did love that they had realistic looking sinks and talked all about the importance of washing hands before touching patients.

I highly recommend visiting the exhibit if you are in the area. I think most kids from preschool through third or fourth grade would really love it.

We did enjoy the rest of the museum as well and had such a great time.